Page 38 of Heavy Shot

"Yes, well, it doesn't make for positive buzz when the costars hate one another, does it? Roland thinks it's good PR for us to be cozy. I'm pretty sure she's frigid, or a lesbian, but as long as I don't actually have to make the rounds with her, I can pretend to like her."

Jill gave a slow, bemused smile. "She slept with you once or twice, then cut you off?"

"Shut up," Kline winced.

She giggled and pointed at him, "I still know you, Kline."

"She's vapid and cruel, so I had good reason," he said, defensively. "But never mind. We'll just leave it at that."

"Mmhmm. Okay." Jill leaned forward a little. "So…how serious are things with you and Rhi?"

Kline sighed and settled back in his seat. "Again?”

“It’s an interrogation tactic to circle back to the same question and ask it in a different way.”

“You don’t trust my answers?”

“Not as far as I could throw you.”

He laughed and rubbed his chin. “It's hard to say. I like her. We get on well, but what can you tell from a relationship that's only a week old?"

Jill considered him for a long moment, then toyed with her salad before glancing up through her lashes. "It’s important. If you're serious about someone who might be my only friend in LA…I just wanted to know before I…before we go dancing. So, I know how close I can get. You know?"

He raised an eyebrow and a slow smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. "You can get as close as you like, beautiful. I will certainly have no complaints. What happens in New York, stays in New York."

"I like to dance close," she said softly.

“I remember.”

She licked her lips and looked down, trying to blink herself back into focus. Kline glazed her brain like a donut. She couldn’t think straight for the sticky sweet sugar rush of his proximity. “She’s my friend,” she reminded herself out loud.

“Technically,” Kline said, tapping her nose with his index finger. It was a familiar gesture. “You got here first.”

“Technically.”

“Also, she said you werefriend adjacent, not friends, so…”

“What?”

“Yeah. I asked her about how you knew each other. She said you were, and I quote, friend-ish.”

Jill felt her lip curl slightly. She flew through a thousand thoughts, cataloging the people she trusted and considered friends, and wondered if there was an app just for platonic relationships like the dating apps before saying, “Well, I feel less conflicted.”

He kissed her cheek. “So, dancing?”

"Do you mind if I choose the place?"

"Of course not. This is your town. I'll take you wherever you want to go."

"Do you still have a little goth in you somewhere?"

"I am wearing all black."

She reached down beside her and plucked a tiny bag from her only slightly larger purse and pushed it across the table. "You need some eyeliner."

He smiled, plucked the bag from the table, and pushed his chair back. "Right. Back in a mo, love."

"Wait," she said, halting him mid-step with a half-smile. "Wait. I'll put it on you."

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